Community group in the borough of Wandsworth, London

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Overshadowing

One of the concern often raised by objection is the case of shadowing caused by tall buildings.

As stated in one of the recent comment:

“The study includes a picture of the overshadowing at 10.00 am as well as 12 pm however no picture is shown for the hours of the afternoon i.e. 3 pm and or 6 pm.
This needs to be added to the study to provide a complete picture of potential overshadowing.“

A simple view of the neighbourhood on Google map shows the extend of shadows on buildings about 15 storey high. So you can easily imagine the consequences for 42 stories

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2 thoughts on “Overshadowing”

While the Google tool is an interesting one for general browsing on the internet it is insufficiently accurate for proper evaluation of town planning applications involving proposals for buildings.

There are well established procedures for measuring the effect of proposals on sunlight, daylight and overshadowing. These are used in the analysis of the effect of new projects.

In essence the main question is whether a new proposal will have enough effect to make the amenity of an existing building sufficiently unacceptable. There are laid down standards for such things and this is why applicants have to provide sunlight and daylight studies with larger applications.

The standards include specific dates and times as well.

The position of an application site is also of relevance. In the case of the Clapham Junction application the proposal is immediately to the south (ie the sun side) of a large expanse of railway track which is uninhabited and likely to remain so.

The proposal includes two new taller buildings with a gap between. In simple terms this means that shadows cast by the lower streys are unlikely to have any effect at all, whilst the effect of shadows of the taller storeys will be ameliorated by the gap between.

The consultant’s report will have assessed the effect according to the national standards.

It’s important to use the proper tools and not to allow emotion exagerate the situation.

architecturerosemont> I agree that the Google tool is not for technical and detail statement. However, it gives a good idea of the shadow provoked by tall buildings.

In addition, albeit giving interesting rudimentary on the impact of having two towers including a gap in between, your comment does not give explanation for the lack of study on other hours of the day/other time.

Rather that using standards and regulations (you know in your expertise they often change) I ask here a little bit of imagination…